8. Better than a Vibrator
8
Better than a Vibrator
I built this place on sweat and bullheadedness. My legacy is the work ethic I instilled in my staff along with the idea that hard work can create something truly great. If our guests have fond memories of their excellent dining experiences here, well, that’s all the legacy I need.
Olivia Stein, restaurateur
LUCIE
I dreamed I was asleep. A funny dream, I know. I was aware I was dreaming as I snuggled into a cozy bed with sheets as soft as an old T-shirt and a nest of pillows that felt like a cloud. It definitely wasn’t my bed. I was too busy working to buy luxurious bedding. In real life, I had exactly one set of sheets and two pillows, and they were just okay. Nothing like the magnificent bed of my dream.
Dream? Shit!
I startled awake and wiped the drool from my chin with the hand it rested on.
“Hello? Hello?” The tinny words came from my phone’s speaker. Thank god I hadn’t set this up as a video interview.
“I’m here. Sorry, lost the connection for a second.”
“Funny because it sounded like snoring,” the city councilwoman said.
I winced as guilt slashed through my stomach. “How strange. I think I caught everything you said though.” The recording indicator was still on, so I’d be able to play back the part I missed. I glanced at my bedroom door. If only I slept as well in there. Maybe the dream was my subconscious telling me it was time to upgrade my mattress.
“Good, because the education of our city’s children is the most important thing we can do for our future. Don’t you agree?”
“Uh, yes.” Intellectually, I agreed. Personally? I glanced at the brochure for the fertility clinic I’d picked up months ago, a few days before I’d gotten my book deal. It was shoved under two women’s biographies and my most recently filled notebook. I promised to look at it again after I turned in my book. Maybe then I’d be ready to have a kid.
It had never been the right time to have a baby. Certainly not when I was in college and my hookup had begged to put in “just the tip,” then came inside me. After that, I’d been so busy trying to be one of the guys at work that it had never made it to my list of priorities. But with forty staring me in the face, I knew my time was running out.
If only I were sure I’d be a good mother. I’d never be like my mother, willing to drop everything for my dad and me. If that meant I’d be bad at it, I shouldn’t go back to that fertility clinic.
Like I’d said it out loud, the councilwoman asked, “Are you sure you’re the right person to write this story? Should I be talking to your editor instead?”
My face went hot. “No, I’m a senior reporter. And I have what I need to write the piece. I’ll email you with anything I need to confirm or clarify.”
“All right…”
“Thank you, Councilwoman. I’ll be in touch.” I disconnected the call, then rested my forehead on my hand. I needed sleep. I was no good like this. Mario would fire me if he heard I’d fallen asleep during an interview.
I remembered a night I’d slept like a baby. That night I’d let Danny stay over.
I needed an orgasm. Then I’d drift off to sleep on a soporific cocktail of serotonin and oxytocin. Yet my battery-operated boyfriend hadn’t helped last night. I mean, my self-administered orgasm had been perfectly adequate, but afterward I tossed and turned until practically three in the morning.
Maybe the magic had been Danny’s solid chest at my back. They must sell a pillow like that online, right? Maybe a weighted blanket would feel like his arm, snug around me.
But even one-day shipping would take too long. I needed sleep now. Danny usually worked Tuesdays, which meant I could have a nice, greasy burger and a drink while I talked him into coming upstairs at the end of his shift. I’d invite him to stay all night. He’d seemed to like that idea last time.
Even with his puppy-dog eyes guilting me the next morning, he’d be better than a vibrator and a weighted blanket.
I walked into my bathroom to wipe away any traces of drool and apply some lipstick.
I met my gaze in the mirror. I’d get good sleep tonight. Then I’d kick ass at work tomorrow and stop neglecting my book.